About

Schools and libraries are supposed to be safe environments for children, and the community, to come together to pursue education and character development.

However, sexually exploitive material is seeping into these learning spaces, potentially damaging children’s intellectual development and warping their sexual templates to normalize sexual violence and lack of consent.

Schools and libraries are fostering unsafe, unhealthy environments for children in three primary ways: inadequate, or non-existent, computer and Wi-Fi filters to prevent exposure to pornography; online school databases that expose children to pornography, normalize sexually violent and risky acts, and promote prostitution; and lastly inadequate, or non-existent, filters to block pornography on school-owned devices like iPads or laptops that are distributed to children.

Participate in Our Back to School Campaign

Send this packet of information to your local Parent Teacher Association:

Three ways schools and libraries are fostering unhealthy and unsafe learning environments:

Online school databases that expose children to pornography, normalize sexually violent and risky acts, and promote prostitution.

EBSCO Information Servicesoffers online library resources to public and private schools (K-12), public libraries, and more. These are online resources provided by schools that children often use to do research for a school paper, or to complete other online homework. In its advertising for schools, it promises “fast access to curriculum-appropriate content.” However, several of EBSCO’s products provide easy access to hardcore pornography sites and extremely graphic sexual content. Innocent searches provide pornographic results. Via a system that bypasses school Internet filters, EBSCO brings the dark world of XXX to America’s elementary, middle, and high school children. Learn more here.

Inadequate, or non-existent, computer and Wi-Fi filters to prevent exposure to pornography.

Most schools and libraries are not using effective filtering on both the school computers and Wi-Fi, despite laws requiring them. In 2000 Congress passed (and the Supreme Court later upheld) the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)—a federal law that imposes requirements to filter Internet access to obscene pornography, child pornography, and other material that is harmful to minors. These requirements must be met in order for any school or library to receive funding from a governmental program called the E-rate program, which makes technology more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. However, CIPA requirements have been egregiously under-enforced, so schools and libraries are not being held accountable to filter.

Inadequate, or non-existent, filters to block pornography on school-owned devices like iPads or laptops that are distributed to children.

Beyond the responsibility of schools to create safe environments on their physical property, they also have a responsibility to create safe learning environments on school-owned devices they distribute. Schools around the country now give students iPads or laptops or other electronic devices with few, if any, monitoring systems. This is unacceptable. School administration responsibility extends beyond the school grounds—whether that is regarding a school-sponsored trip, or a school-sponsored device. On any fieldtrip schools would not allow students to be exposed to violent, degrading pornographic images, and so too they must take the necessary precautions to ensure school-distributed electronic devices are not exposing children to harmful material.

This is a national outrage.

Parents and guardians trust the schools and libraries to hold themselves accountable to a higher standard of protecting children from sexually exploitive, objectifying, and damaging material. Yet, news reports of children gaining access to porn in schools and public libraries are a regular occurrence.

Pornography turns once-safe community schools and libraries into a XXX space that fosters child sexual abuse, sexual assault, exhibitionism, stalking, and lewd behavior in libraries across the country.

Quick facts about the harms of pornography:

A 2014 study found that increased pornography use is linked to decreased brain matter in the areas of motivation and decision-making, impaired impulse control, and desensitization to sexual reward.

A 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike

As a result of viewing pornography women reported lowered body image, criticism from their partners regarding their bodies increased pressure to perform acts seen in pornographic films, and less actual sex, while men reported being more critical of their partners’ body and less interested in actual sex.

A 2015 study found that men’s frequency of pornography use is positively linked to body image insecurity regarding muscularity and body fat, and to increased anxiety in romantic relationships.

Is this the kind of sexual education we want our communities to promote?

The good news is you can make a difference through the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s Safe Schools, Safe Libraries project.

Our Safe Schools, Safe Libraries project is a grassroots campaign designed to empower parents throughout the country with the tools needed to identify the local schools and public libraries where children are at risk.

Using our tactics, dozens of concerned citizens around the country have been able to get their local schools and libraries to improve policies.

We provide you with three “getting started” packets to help you protect the children in your community. Thank you for taking a stand!

Filtering Statutes in Libraries and Schools
La. R.S. § 17:100.7 (schools)
La. R.S. § 51:1426 (Requires Internet service providers to make available to subscribers who are Louisiana residents a product or service that enables the subscriber to control a child’s use of the Internet.)
Strength = Moderate for schools; no statute for libraries

Filtering Statutes in Libraries and Schools
Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 323.001 – .003. (Requires an interactive computer service provider to place a link to free or shareware filtering software conspicuously on the first accessible web page of the service provider. Establishes a civil penalty of $2,000 for each day the provider fails to comply.)
Strength = No Statute

Please let us know that you’re leading the charge in your area and let us help you! We are here to help you organize, coordinate, network, and be successful! Send us your name, phone number, and location. Email public@ncose.com or fill in the form below.

Contact NCOSE

Thank you for your inquiry. We will be in touch as soon as we can, but with a small staff and a huge mission, we ask for your grace in giving us a few days to respond. You can also call us at (202) 393-7245.

CIPA

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

Additionally, it is important to note that a specific law pertaining to libraries and schools regarding the Internet was passed by Congress in 2000 and was found to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. The ALA and the ACLU commonly misinterpret this law and disseminate misleading information to libraries and schools regarding their rights to place filters on computers. You will likely face this.

Background:
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. CIPA imposes certain types of requirements on any school or library that receives funding for Internet access or internal connections from the E-rate program – a program that makes certain communications technology more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA.

What CIPA Requires

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA may not receive the discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they certify that they have an Internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures. The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene, (b) child pornography, or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors). Before adopting this Internet safety policy, schools and libraries must provide reasonable notice and hold at least one public hearing or meeting to address the proposal.

Schools subject to CIPA are required to adopt and enforce a policy to monitor online activities of minors.

Schools and libraries subject to CIPA are required to adopt and implement an Internet safety policy addressing: (a) access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet; (b) the safety and security of minors when using electonic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications; (c) unauthorized access, including so-called “hacking,” and other unlawful activities by minors online; (d) unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors; and (e) measures restricting minors’ access to materials harmful to them.

Schools and libraries are required to certify that they have their safety policies and technology in place before receiving E-rate funding.

CIPA does not affect E-rate funding for schools and libraries receiving discounts only for telecommunications, such as telephone service.

An authorized person may disable the blocking or filtering measure during any use by an adult to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purposes.

CIPA does not require the tracking of Internet use by minors or adults.

In 2001, the ALA and the ACLU challenged the law on the grounds that the law required libraries to unconstitutionally block access to constitutionally protected information on the Internet. They specifically argued that “no filtering software successfully differentiates constitutionally protected speech from illegal speech on the Internet.” In 2003, upon appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the law was upheld as constitutional and that it was permissible to install filters on all school and library computers, and further held that it was constitutional to mandate libraries receiving specific funding to have filters installs.

The ALA and ACLU often argue that it is against a person’s First Amendment rights to have to ask a librarian to remove a filter for a desired search. However, this is exactly what the High Court said was sufficient in instances where an individual wanted to access material blocked by a filter. Adults may ask the librarian to unblock material. This is an important added barrier to individuals viewing indecent material in our schools and libraries. The mere need to ask would deter most individuals from attempting to view such material, and the requests would largely remain for material that is reasonable or for a specific purpose other than gratifying one’s personal desire to view porn.

The Laws

What Are The Laws?

Local: Your local community might have specific regulations already in place. You’ll have to check your specific area.

State: Some states have legislation in place already. You can find details about your state here: http://bit.ly/xPCEuW. The list is not complete, but we are working on providing an updated database for you.

Federal: There are a number of federal laws relating to pornography and specifically to filtering in schools and public libraries. See below for more details on these. You can also learn more about federal obscenity laws here: www.WarOnIllegalPornography.com.

Children’s Internet Protection Act: It is important to note that a specific law pertaining to libraries and schools regarding the Internet was passed by Congress in 2000 and was found to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. This law mandates that libraries and schools must have filters in place if they opt-in to receive specific e-rate federal funding. The ALA often recommends that libraries refuse this funding so that they don’t have to filter.

Much of the available hard-core adult pornography online is actually illegal.

First, one common misconception people have is that pornography is legal and protected by the First Amendment. The truth is that obscenity (hardcore adult pornography) is prohibited under existing Federal laws. These laws prohibit distribution of hardcore, obscene pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite or hotel/motel TV and in sexually oriented businesses and other retail shops. Additionally, it is important to understand that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. This has been repeatedly upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The role of the Federal Government should be, as it has been in the past, to prosecute the major producers and distributors of obscene pornography. However, the U.S. Justice Department is not currently enforcing these laws and for the last 20 years only sporadically enforced them. Thus, illegal, obscene pornography is flooding our nation and the harm is great.

Many people do not understand that obscenity is actually illegal. The American Library Association (ALA), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other anti-filtering groups often exploit this common misunderstanding to argue against the use of filters. You should often point out that filters would block obscenity, which is a majority of the hardcore adult pornography accessed on the Internet and likely accessed at your library/school.

What is pornography?

The term “pornography” is a generic, not a legal term. As noted by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1973 obscenity case, Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 20, n.2, the term: “Pornography” derives from the Greek (harlot, and graphos, writing). The word now means “1: a description of prostitutes or prostitution 2. a depiction (as in a writing or painting) of licentiousness or lewdness: a portrayal of erotic behavior designed to cause sexual excitement.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary [Unabridged 1969]…
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]

What is obscenity?

The term “obscenity” is a legal term, and in Miller v. California, supra the Supreme Court established a three-pronged test for determining whether a “work” (i.e., material or a performance) is obscene and therefore unprotected by the First Amendment. To be obscene, a judge and/or a jury must determine:
First, that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; AND second, that the work depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, as measured by contemporary community standards, “hardcore” sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable law; AND third, that a reasonable person would find that the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value. SIDE NOTE: Typical “hardcore pornography” (e.g., a website, DVD or magazine) consists of little if anything more than one depiction of hardcore sex after the other (i.e., it’s “wall-to-wall” sex).

News Articles

2017

A woman went to the library to fill out forms for her mother’s nursing home, but instead saw someone watching “very explicit” porn without blinders, without headphones, and videotaping it on his phone. “It’s not my business what they look at,” said a librarian at Harold Washington Library.

Monte Carrol Wainscott had several search warrants executed in which officers were able to impose 15 charges of possession/ promotion of child pornography. It was found that he was using the library’s computers to upload pornographic pictures of children.

Police say the 36-year-old man was taking inappropriate pictures of children, teens and adults without their knowledge. Library workers in Indiana told police that they found child pornography on a computer that the man had recently used.

Kids studying after school at their local library went to check out a book, but from the checkout line could see someone viewing porn on one of the library computers. The ALA says “the use of filtration software is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.”

Police in Austin, Texas, watched live security video showing a man searching for child sexual abuse images. Police say it appeared the man was saving the images to a hard drive. The security officer recognized the man, having kicked him out of the library once before for viewing pornography on the public computers.

A Bridgewater, Connecticut, man was arrested at the town’s library after police caught him committing a lewd act while apparently watching pornography on a computer. Police say a 14-year-old was sitting next to him at the time.

A man in Huntington, West Virginia, was arrested and charged with distribution of child porn after Huntington Police state he accessed child porn via computer at the Cabell County Public Library’s main branch in downtown Huntington.

2015

A Winlock, Washington, man was arrested after an FBI investigation revealed that he was allegedly using a social networking site and public library Internet service to send and receive child sexual abuse images.

The library staff was alerted after a man was seen sitting at a computer, watching porn and masturbating. After staff told the man to leave, he started screaming and threw a computer keyboard. A staff member followed him to the parking lot where the man hit the staff member with is car.

An Oregon man was charged Wednesday with first-degree sexual assault of a child after police said he touched an 8-year-old girl on the buttocks while she played a game on a computer at the Madison Public Library. Police in another jurisdiction reported multiple contacts the man because he searched for pornography as school and public libraries. .

A group of regular library visitors is known for viewing sexually graphic video and images with parents and children nearby. They also print sexually explicit images, which cause other library patrons using printing services to be involuntarily exposed to the material.

High school students spotted a man viewing child pornography on the computer at the Westland Public Library. After arresting the man, the police found hundreds of items related to child pornography in his home.

A La Crosse man claimed he was looking at pictures of models on a public library at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Murphy Library, but officers found sexually graphic videos and pictures of children as young as 4-years-old during a search of the computer.

An 11-year old girl and her friend saw a man viewing porn on a computer, despite the privacy screens, at a public library. She immediately told the librarian, who informed her, and then her mother, that it was “his right” to view pornography at a public library.

2014

A mother is concerned about the exposure of children to pornography at Auburn Public Library. The woman was in the kid’s section with her children and witnessed hard core pornography being watched on a screen in the adult section that was facing right in their direction.

A former school bus driver on probation was arrested for downloading hundreds of images of child porn at Scottsdale library. He specifically used the Mustang Library because, according to him, its computers “don’t filter as well as the other libraries.”

2012

In response to the complaints from numerous library patrons concerning pornographic images being in full view of passersby, a library installed 18 computer monitors with plastic hoods. They prefer this solution to filtering or censoring images.

Man found stripped to his underwear in library; police report shows the past year of assaults, lewd acts, drug-use have occurred at San Juan Library; Martin Luther King Library has big problems with patrons accessing pornography on computers.

The Seattle Public Library has a long list of rules of things you can’t do in the library. You can’t eat, sleep, look like you’re sleeping, be barefoot, be too stinky or talk too loudly. But you can watch graphic porn on a public computer in front of kids.

A resident complained last week about a man watching pornography on a public computer and behaving lewdly in front of a Malibu library. According to a county Board of Supervisors policy, the Malibu Library is unable to stop customers from using computers to view pornography.

When a homeless man was accused of fondling himself in the Laguna Beach public library while viewing pornography. Laguna Beach libraries have insisted that they are obliged to provide Internet access to pornography as a matter of their clients’ free- speech rights.

2011

A Hannibal man accused of downloading child pornography on a Hannibal Public Library computer has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Gary Wayne Martin, 45, was indicted by a federal grand jury of one felony count of production and two felony counts of possession after an arrest last March.

Grand Rapids resident, Alan Waldron, 43, faces a maximum of five years in prison for using the Lowell Library’s wireless to download more than 100 images of pornography—including some that depicted sexual acts between children.

A registered sex offender from Orange County made his initial appearance in federal court Thursday, following his arrest at a local public library where witnesses allegedly observed him viewing child pornography on one of the library’s computers.

2009

Holyoke MA man charged with downloading child porn from library computers. The library he viewed it at had allowed 40 computers to remain filter-free after library governing body had required filters for the computers.

2008

In Their Words

Below are quotes from leaders of the American Library Association regarding filters and child safety at public libraries:

Comments made by Judith Krug, former President, American Library Association:

“You should have access to ideas and information regardless of your age,” Krug said. “If anyone is going to limit or guide a young person, it should be the parent or guardian—and only the parent or guardian.” New York Times quoting Judith Krug

“A librarian is not a legal process. There is not a librarian in the country—unless she or he is a lawyer—who is in the position to determine what he or she is looking at is indeed child pornography.”- Quoting Judith Krug

“Blocking material leads to censorship. That goes for pornography and bestiality, too. If you don’t like it, don’t look at it … Every time I hear someone say, I want to protect the children, I want to pull my hair out.” Quoting Judith Krug

Quotes from American Library Association’s Website www.ALA.org:

“The Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights entitled Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks calls for free and unfettered access to the Internet for any library user, regardless of age…The Resolution and Statement condemn as a violation of the Library Bill of Rights any use of filtering software by libraries that blocks access to constitutionally protected speech.”

“Knowing what materials are actually obscenity or child pornography is difficult, as is knowing, when minors are involved, and what materials are actually “harmful to minors.” The applicable statutes and laws, together with the written decisions of courts that have applied them in actual cases, are the only official guides. Libraries and librarians are not in a position to make those decisions for library users or for citizens generally.”

“As for obscenity and child pornography, prosecutors and police have adequate tools to enforce criminal laws. Libraries are not a component of law enforcement efforts naturally directed toward the source, i.e., the publishers, of such material.”

American Library Association, “Guidelines and Considerations for Developing a Public Library Internet Use Policy,”

“Moreover, libraries should be aware that the legal framework and context of regulation is rapidly changing; federal, state, and local governments have begun to legislate specifically in the area of library Internet use. Libraries should actively oppose proposed legislation that exposes them to new liabilities and negatively impacts intellectual freedom…”

“By embracing values over filters, we are expressing trust in our children, that they will decide wisely when the opportunity for misjudgement presents itself. By stressing values over filters, we send the clearest message to our children: As is true of the real world, you can go anywhere you wish, and it is ultimately up to you to decide what is right and wrong and face the consequences of your judgement. This, over time, would help enforce personal accountability and a permanent sense of responsibility and self-respect. Nowhere in this process can we turn to cold, impersonal, valueless technology and expect that to help define the moral element of our global civilization.”

Videos

This is a playlist of videos uploaded by library patrons, most made by teens, who have caught other patrons viewing pornography at their local libraries. After talking with many librarians, looking at the news articles that pop up in “Google Alerts” daily on this topic, and just a quick perusal of YouTube – one can see that this is clearly a common occurrence in public libraries.

:

Action

Tell The American Library Association To Stop Opposing Library Filters

Prepare for Back to School

Send this packet of information to your local Parent Teacher Association:

Check Your Local School’s Online Databases

Download the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s action packet “The ABCs vs XXX: How to Ensure Your School’s Online Library Databases are Pornography Free.” This is a useful tool for any concerned parent or citizen who wants to protect children from being exposed to pornography and sexually graphic materials on school online resources.

USE THIS GUIDE TO GET FILTERS IN YOUR SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES

It often just takes a few concerned citizens to simply ask for effective filters to be installed and the libraries and schools will do it! Please take on this project and lead the way in your neighborhood. Download the “Getting Started Packet” here.

Spread the Word

Updates

Guest Post By Robin Paterson The truth is so shocking and unbelievable that many people do just that: they don’t believe it. But, as the parents of a middle school child, we discovered porn in the school sponsored digital databases last year. We discovered, quite by accident, while perusing articles on “grade 7 biology”, that […]

Simple searches in EBSCO databases (an educational resource for school children) result in articles normalizing prostitution, promoting anal sex, and includes live links to hardcore pornography websites. Watch the video here: Take action, download and share the below graphics on social media! Hover over the image for easy sharing options.

Do your children use EBSCO? Whether they go to public or private school, there’s a good chance they do. Because EBSCO is one of the largest online educational databases in the country! Kids use this “curriculum appropriate” resource to do research and reading for school. Great, right? WRONG. Turns out, EBSCO is not “curriculum appropriate” at […]

WARNING: This article contains links to sexually graphic material. Reader discretion is advised. Angela Helm, writing for The Root, recently reported an incident of simulated sexual assault by white boys against black boys at a Henrico County, Virginia, middle school. Black members of the Short Pump middle school football team were pinned down by white […]

Originally published Oct. 4, 2017 in The Buffalo News Typically, a man arrested for child pornography possession is forced to give up his private laptop or phone. In Robert Roy Richmond’s case, the computer he is accused of using is located in the Batavia Public Library. Richmond, a Batavia resident, was scheduled to appear Wednesday […]

Schools are supposed to be safe learning environments, where technology is an educational benefit. However, over the past several years, it’s become clear that schools are not doing enough to protect children from being exposed to pornography on school grounds or school electronic devices. One young man recalls how he was exposed to pornography at […]

As children head back to school this fall, all of us want to be assured our kids will be in safe environments, right? None of us would want our children introduced to addictive substances like cigarettes or drugs in school, and the same goes for sexually exploitative materials. Yet, children across the nation, in both […]

This video is part of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s Campaign to combat the pornographic and sexually explicit material children are being exposed to in school. Because young children are so impressionable, exposure to graphic sexual material can have a drastic and lasting effect on their development. Every child deserves a safe school […]

Protect Young Minds, an organization dedicated to helping parents protect and prepare their children regarding the harms of pornography, has created a checklist for online safety at your school. Too many schools do not have the necessary procedures and filters in place to create a safe learning environment that is protected from the harms of […]

Originally posted on Protect Young Minds Are you confident that your kids are safe online at school? Will they be exposed to pornography on school devices? Do you trust that your kids’ teachers and administrators have policies in place to handle this problem? Think again. In the days of mobile devices, complete protection from pornography at school […]